Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Why not? Insurance companies will skim some profit off, is all


Imagine some middle manager in some S&P 500 company approves a contract that says:

"Company A agrees to purchase for $1000 each product offered by company B which meet the specifications provided".

And Company B finds that the spec says "A quartz crystal between 1um and 1mm in diameter".

So company B goes and finds a beach, full of sand, calculates there are 1 billion grains of sand in each cubic meter of the beach, and the beach is 50m long, 50m deep, and 50m wide. Total amount is 50 * 50 * 50 * 1 billion * $1000 = $125 quadrillion.

Far more than all the money in the world.

That bankrupts the company, but since there is no liability limit, it bankrupts every other investor. Even if you have 0.0001% of the company, you're still bankrupt.

If you have insurance, the insurance company is bankrupt, and you're still on the hook for whatever remains, which bankrupts you too.


What in the world are you on about? I said shareholders should have to personally pay the fines when companies commit crimes.

Edit: ah, I should've been more specific about that. Still, I didn't say anything about the liability being unlimited.


> "Were it up to me I'd personalize all liability"

Contractual liability is a thing...




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: